The scale of human trafficking in Wales is much bigger than official data suggests, the country’s new anti-human trafficking coordinator has claimed.

The scale of human trafficking in Wales is much bigger than official data suggests

The scale of human trafficking in Wales is much bigger than official data suggests, the country’s new anti-human trafficking coordinator has claimed.

A report published by children’s charity Barnardo’s reveals the number of children it supported who had been trafficked into Wales had doubled in the past year.

Yet Stephen Chapman said the figures were “unsafe” and that it was difficult to draw any conclusions as to the extent of human trafficking in Wales from them.

Mr Chapman, who was appointed by the Welsh Government in November, hopes to increase awareness of what he described as a “heinous” crime.

He also attempted to debunk the myth that all trafficked people were recruited into the sex trade.

In today’s report, Barnardo’s said the number of young people known to be trafficked within the UK rose by 84% last year – from 76 to 140 children.

While in Wales, it said the number of trafficked children it supported rose from five to 10.

Yet Mr Chapman said the figures were too small to read anything into and that more work needed to be done to raise awareness of human trafficking in Welsh communities so that instances are correctly reported to the authorities.

“These statistics don’t tell us anything,” he said.

“We cannot draw any conclusions or prepare any analysis on the fact that 10 children were trafficked because we know it’s happening a lot more.

“Last year in Wales there were 34 referrals, that’s including adults as well. These figures are too small to read anything into for a whole country and that’s why they are unsafe.”

He added: “I wouldn’t like to put a number on the real situation but I would hazard a guess that it’s a lot more.

“People don’t refer themselves because of a number of reasons – one of which is the fear of retribution and the other that they fear they will be deported.”

Despite dismissing the Barnardo’s report, Mr Chapman was keen to stress how much he supported the charity’s work in helping trafficked people.

He also pledged to crack down on the criminals who saw trafficking as an easy way to make money.

“Trafficking is a heinous crime, it’s slavery and it does carry 14 years in prison. What we want to do is deal with it by making Wales hostile for human trafficking.

“At the moment criminals see trafficking as a very lucrative crime which is low risk – it’s second only to drugs as the biggest international crime and the problem for us is that it’s growing.

“If we can raise awareness so that everyone out there who has the slightest doubt about whether someone has been trafficked calls the police then we can start to get a grip on it.”

Mr Chapman also said it was important that people realised that victims of human trafficking do not just work in the sex industry.

He said: “It’s not just about the sex trade, it’s also about people locked in domestic servitude, it’s about people promised a better life and then being forced to work long hours for very little or no money.

“It’s about people working in factories and people working in takeaways – it goes right across the gamut of life.”

Yvonne Rodgers, director of Barnardo’s Cymru, said closer partnership working could be attributed for the rise in the number of children known to be trafficked.

“In Wales over the past year, closer partnership working with the police and local authorities has seen a rise in identifying the risk and the incidence of children being sexually abused.

“This has resulted in more exploited young people being referred to our Seraf service and more protection for victims and other children from being trafficked for sex.”

She added: “We need to continue this pattern and see the police authorities in Wales using their full range of law enforcement and disruption tactics to arrest and deter the abusers and protect children from this horrific abuse. This problem has remained hidden for too long.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said the Barnardo’s report raises some “serious concerns” and it will be responding to issues raised.

“We know that there is absolutely no room for complacency and much more to do,” he said.

“We are exploring with local authorities what can be done to tackle this issue and will continue to fight for this issue to be given the status it deserves, locally, nationally and internationally.”

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